Samsung is a big player when it comes to making some of the most popular Android phones, but that doesn't mean they don't also like to dabble in their own, Google-free side-projects. According to Japan's Daily Yomiuri, Samsung aims to launch its first phone running the open-source Tizen operating system sometime in 2013.

Linux-based Tizen, supported by other companies such as Intel, has been around for a while now but has never had a phone of its own. Samsung's own Bada OS was folded into it earlier this year, and now rumors say that a partnership between NTT DoCoMo and Samsung will produce the first Tizen handset relatively soon, perhaps as early as this year's Mobile World Congress.

Of course, Samsung was rumored to have put aside non-Android phone considerations earlier this year, so it's anyone's guess as to whether or not this Tizen phone is really coming all that soon. But Samsung certainly has a vested interest in keeping its options open, particularly options that don't necessarily involve Google breathing down its neck. If a Tizen phone is on the horizon—even a spectacular one—only time will tell if it can actually hold its own against twin juggernauts Android and iOS. [The Daily Yomiuri via The Next Web]